It's kinda like "the cowboy that's never been "throwed". The only folks who have never been "humiliated" as you feel you were in the dove fields, are ones who have never actually been dove hunting. Sure is fun though isn't it? Suckers are kinda fast don't ya think?

This is the first year that we have had a Dove season, in Iowa. Fortunately our new Govenor overturned a new law prohibiting lead shot. .....
We are not blessed with Dove fields and have lost most of our Pheasant population. Other state's have developed fantastic fields. I suspect in time, we will have these as well. Until we do, we will continue to envy the other states. I have hunted the fields in Missouri, Illinois and Texas and know what great shooting that can be. ...

Be Safe !!!

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'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing.

On Saturday, I had to work. I looked out thewindow of the jobsite about 5PM and there were a dozen doves lined up on the telephone wires behind he house...... reminding me that dove season was a couple days old and I had not gone yet.... I got to plannin' while I worked....

Sunday afternoon, my daughter and I hit our hotspot (a pond with a huge cottonwood snag next to it, surrounded by ditchweed (wild marijauna) patches) about 4:30 PM ..... we saw a grand total of 9 doves- 3 singles and 2 groups of 3- and bagged only 1...... I've seen only one all day today.

What gives? I have my suspicions: Saturday night/Sunday morning, the temperature dropped .... we had highs in the low 90's and lows on the 70's...... when I knocked off work Sunday in the wee hours, it was 61, and getting colder.... Sunday's high was 74..... I suspect that most of the local birds have gone south already .....

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TheGolden Rule of Tool Use: "If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T."

The only load I ever used for doves was a 1-1/8 load that mimicked the Winchester AA load I used on the skeet field. It moved that charge of shot at just under 1200 fps and I used it for everything. Doves, rabbits, squirrels, ducks. Yeah, ducks were once killed with lead shot. I never changed the load, only varied the shot size. I had the leads on that load nailed firmly into my cranium, so I stayed with it and used it with much success.

Don't feel bad about being humiliated on the dove fields. Better men than you have been humbled by the little speedsters.

Those doves are tough. I made my limit on my first dove hunt, but I can't tell you how many just seemed to absorb hits and leave behind a few feathers. I used 1 1/8oz Rem Nitros and 1 1/4oz Rem express long range; two shells that don't work so well. I switched to some federal 1 1/4oz 1330fps loads that worked very well.

7/8 oz of shot is plenty ...and a load of 8's is plenty as well...but confidence is a different thing.

I'd suggest a trip to a Skeet field ...and tune up on your basics ...lead and follow-thru....and maybe a few hours at a sporting clays field, where they may have a station or two - that will mimick the kinds of shots you saw / or shots you were missing.

But my point is to get your confidence back - and assuming your gun "fits" you ...it just takes a little time and a few boxes to get it back.

Try shooting a sustained lead method ...so you can make adjustments in your lead ...and can try different leads ...and quantify your results. What I would not do ...is go to heavier loads ( 1 1/8 oz of shot ) to try and get my confidence back ...and what are you going to do then, if your results are no different ??? Work it out on the Skeet or Sporting Clays fields before you go again ...I'll bet it pays off.

A 7/8 oz cheap-o promotional 12 gauge is not the same as a good quality 7/8 oz 20.

My late Uncle complained that the cheap stuff - then 1 oz - was "picking" the doves and that while Express loads were good killers, they kicked a lot.
So I ordered him some of the old "Pigeon" load, 3 1/4 DE 1 1/4 oz #7 1/2 (hard to get the traditional #7 any more) and he was a happy hunter.

Been there, done like that. Doves have been my reality check. Every time I get to thinking I'm Hot Stuff with a shotgun, dove season reminds me there's still a ways to go.

I have gotten better over the last half century. Haven't been out yet this season, but last year I used the little SKB 20 and 7/8 oz loads to good effect.

IIRC, 9 birds in 17 shots. Of course, I've returned plenty of lead to the earth getting to this point,including 500 or so through that SKB just prior to the season. That's a hint....

Here's a couple things that may help boost your average....

Know what 40 yards really looks like. Pace it off when you set up and limit your shots to within that. I've used decoys as range markers for the longest time.

Pattern your shotgun with the load and choke you'll be using. Check for POI and spread. While us writers like to talk about 30" of spread, 26-28" of good distribution is much more common. POI should relate well with POA, a little high is OK.

I prefer 7 1/2s to 8s, but the difference may just be in my head. More important than shot size is shot quality. Hard round shot is the way to go.

I used to use trap loads, but now I load target quality reloads that pattern tightly and keep all the pellets effective. 7/8 oz works for me.

I HAVE to get more practice....did not shoot the new gun much over the off season - barely a couple practice sessions with our informal clays set-up. Totally user-error but I feel better blaming it on the "weak" loads. Haha.

If you aren't correctly leading with 7/8oz, you are note likely to do it with more shot. I love 20 guage 7/8 oz for skeet and dove/quail! I even use my 20 guage with 3 inch for pheasant and kill as many birds as my friends who incinerate them with 12s. You don't have as much range, but if you pick your shots and are good at swinging through your target you will bag birds. Doves can be fast birds so you may be firing behind them.

"The only load I ever used for doves was a 1-1/8 load that mimicked the Winchester AA load I used on the skeet field. It moved that charge of shot at just under 1200 fps and I used it for everything. Doves, rabbits, squirrels, ducks. Yeah, ducks were once killed with lead shot. I never changed the load, only varied the shot size. I had the leads on that load nailed firmly into my cranium, so I stayed with it and used it with much success."

For me having plenty of doves and being able to pick my shots is the key to a good average. With few shots I tend to shoot at birds I know I can't hit. This year I'm shooting reloads, 1 1/8 oz. of #7 1/2 at about 1250 fps.

Its not the shells. Ive shot lots of limits with the Wally world promo loads. If you can get to a sporting clays range and shoot some high incoming and crossing birds it will greatly improve your shooting. Thats about the only presentation that is similar to dove hunting. Ive seen alot of good skeet and trap shooters get a reality check in the dove field. Dove dont fly the same path at the same speed every time.
Our shooting was slow Saturday. I doubled on the first two birds right after I got into the field. I figured it would be an hour or so hunt. Wrong. It took the rest of the afternoon to scratch out a 15 bird limit. We had hundreds of birds prior to hurricane Irene, I doubt there were a hundred in the field Saturday. Hopefully this week will be better.

One box and two doves? I wish my average was that good. Shooting Skeet and Sporting Clays is great practice, and a bunch of FUN! However, a clay target flies nothing like a dove with a tailwind! No dips and dives, and dodging shot strings. That can't be duplicated on a Sporting Clays course. Dove hunt for a few days, then go shoot Sporting Clays. The targets look like they're moving in slow motion.

The cheap, aluminum head "promo" loads also have cheap wads and inferior shot. They will NOT pattern as well as good lite target loads by any of the leading manufacturers. They are also DIRTY! Don't waste money on crappy shells.

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